Grrrrrrr....

Yesterday, while having a delightful time sledding in the mountains, the SD card in my point and shoot camera just. stopped. working.  After taking dozens and dozens of pictures over the course of the last several days, they are now lost forever.   In some crazy digital realm or dimension that I cannot access.

I am so bummed.  (And no, I didn't get snow on/in the camera.  I'm not a retard.)  Perhaps the cold did effect the card, but I had taken at least 50 photos before it just. stopped. working.  Seriously technology, you really suck sometimes.

Guess I'll have to make up for all the lost photos in the next two days.  Please keep your fingers crossed that the new SD card in my camera does not malfunction.  If it does, I think I will just give up, take it out behind the hay shed, and shoot it to pieces with Dad's 9mm.  

Which reminds me, I lost the photos of the day we went out shooting, too. 

Guh.

The Pasco Fog

Welp, I'm here in Washington visiting my beautiful family, and I want you all to take a look at what we've been experiencing here in the Northwest.  Err, what my Washington family experiences on a daily basis during the winter.

Saturday:

Sunday:

Monday:

Today's bit of sunshine was a nice change.  We were even able to go out and shoot clay pigeons and pumpkins, although my fingers nearly froze off.  

Tomorrow's agenda: sledding in the mountains!  Can't wait to play in the snow with my nephews and niece!  

Classy Christmas 2011

Nothing says classy like a picnic in a condominium complex and Dr. Pepper served in Christmas goblets.  And Clark's black ankle socks.

May beautiful moments and happy memories surround you with joy this Christmas, and may the new year prove to be KICK ASS for you like every day is for us.

(Not gonna lie. The aforementioned sentence is probably the best Christmas message Clark and I have ever agreed upon.  Though it's really not appropriate for parents/grandparents,  it's the perfect blend of poetry, pretension and humor rolled into one sentence. Gosh, sometimes when we combine our efforts we really do accomplish great things.)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

An early Christmas gift for Clark

What could it be!? Here he is putting his present together...

And here he is hanging upside down in it! Santa brought Clark an inversion table!

We don't have a whole lot of extra space in our small, two bedroom apartment, but Clark's back has been giving him trouble since he began his job at HUP (Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania) back in early November.  I think he had sat through two days of orientation when his back aches/pains initially began.  And a month and a half later, the pains have not gone away.  We're hoping this inversion table will help alleviate whatever may be stressing his back! 

Totally random side note, I really hope he doesn't make himself sick while using this.  We both tried to hang all the way upside down and within 10 seconds we both felt nauseous.  Guess you don't have to go to a county fair carnival and ride all the circular rides for hours on end in order to get nauseous and throw up (which has happened to me--years ago).  Just hang upside down for one minute.  That should do the trick. Anywho, please don't throw up while using this, Clark.  I won't clean up after you.  You have been warned.

Hypocrite

That's right.  I'm a total hypocrite.  Yesterday I did something that I never, ever thought I would do, something that I've actually vowed never to do:  

I bought skinny jeans (gasp!).  I'm neither ashamed nor proud.  Maybe I'm humbled.  Yes, let's say I'm humbled by this experience.

 Under the influence of my friend Andrea's advice, I tried on a pair of Levi's and was shocked to discover that they made my butt look really, really good, and they made my runner/thunder thighs look trimmer.  Maybe it's just that I've never owned a pair of proper fitting jeans in my life (I'm pretty sure I've been buying jeans too big for the last 14 years) but I knew once I tried these pants on that I had to go against what I stand for and cross over to the dark side.  Welcome, Rachel. 

P.S., If you ever visit Philly, you MUST check out Macy's.  It's an old Wanamaker's department store, absolutely stunning inside with the largest playable organ in the world, blah, blah, blah.  Wikipedia can say all of this better than I ever could, so please click on the link to learn a little bit about this iconic building.  So just promise me you'll visit Macy's when you next find yourself in Philly.  You don't even have to shop.  Just walk inside, be amazed, stare in awe, etc.

P.P.S., Sephora has the best, most fun-colored eyeliner pencils in the world.  I used to use Victoria's Secret eye pencils but they actually curse me with contact dermatitis around my eyes.  Just picked up a Sephora eye pencil in gold and I LOVE IT.

Since finals have ended...

I've completed the one and only item remaining on my major TO DO list...

And crossed it off!  I have to cross it off before I erase it. It's just so much more satisfying that way!

We've decorated our miniature Christmas tree with miniature ornaments.  Our miniature nutcracker is the tree's security guard.

Hello there, Crazy Hat.

I've baked some amazing pumpkin bread...bread that is so good I actually blogged about it last year.  Remember, something has to be really, REALLY good for me to blog about it.  This and my last post about the quinoa have been the only two recipes to make the cut.

Clark has made his delicious fried chicken. Fried chicken that was so good I thrice gnawed  drumsticks to the bone.  Annnnnnd, my coronary arteries just narrowed a little bit more.

We've also been downtown to wonder around the little Christmas Village erected near City Hall, and went out to dinner with some friends last night.  Gosh, it feels good to be free of academic stress, even if the stress will be short lived!

Awaiting the start of a most stressful week

It's true.  This week will prove to be very stressful indeed. One final, after another, after another.  

I most likely will not be blogging until the end of my finals for obvious reasons, so I thought I would share a recipe with you all:

May I present: Quinoa and Black Beans

Click on the link to see the recipe.  I don't have the patience to type out the ingredients/directions.  So, I am not usually the type of person to post a recipe, since I don't have a lot of experience in that realm of domesticity and my husband does most of the cooking in this household (and I like it that way).  BUT HOLD THE PHONE, I think I am catching the hang of this cooking thing, and I'm pretty good at it.  Annnnnd it helps when your recipe Uh-mazing.  It met my expectation of having more than 1,000 ratings >4 stars, and since we have a massive bag of quinoa from Costco, I thought I would give it a whirl.  

If you try it I promise you will not be disappointed.  Pinky promise.

Oh, tonight I am going to feast on an entire carton of Roaster Red Pepper and Tomato Soup, courtesy of Costco.  It is unbelievable, hence the reason why I can eat an entire carton in one sitting.  I wish Costco would stock it in all seasons, not just fall and winter.  What are they thinking? I should probably be smart this year and buy massive quantities of this soup.

Tomorrow my mad studying sessions begin.  Guh.  I just want Friday to be here so we can decorate our cute little 3' Christmas tree with miniature ornaments.  Then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse cookie dough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle.  And in light of the aforementioned sentence, we'll watch Elf, too.

Thanksgiving 2011

Our mini Thanksgiving vacation was pretty awesome.  Clark had a week off from work and I didn't have to attend class since all my courses are scheduled on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  So, we both lucked out this year and got to enjoy the holiday without any work/academic distractions.

I'll spare y'all the details, but Clark and I spent our first Thanksgiving meal in Baltimore and then our second Thanksgiving meal in Alexandria. Yes, we had two feasts in three days.  We're glutinous little pigs.  Just kidding. (Kind of.) We had such a great time visiting with family, playing with Charlie and Greta, running around Rogers Forge, seeing the sites in D.C. on a very busy Black Friday, and watching Elf and old Friends episodes.   I've said it before and I'll say it again: we feel truly blessed to have members from both sides of the family within a three hour drive.  We actually feel kind of spoiled.

On with the photo essay of Thanksgiving festivities:

Charlie playing doctor with Clark the day we babysat. 

Greta enjoying some V8.  This little girl is NOT picky, and typically she'll drink two cans in one sitting.

Turkey Day, hanging out on the monkey bars at a nearby park.

Greta made two new friends.  She didn't care for the human friend so much, but she was extremely fond of the furry friend.

And when her furry friend left she took a little nap.

The Tobler Thanksgiving set up.  It was a delicious meal; a big thanks to Joanne, Kim's mother for preparing all the dishes!

Black Friday festivities consisted of absolutely NO shopping. Instead we all enjoyed a day out in D.C.  Have I mentioned that the weather over Thanksgiving was phenomenal and unseasonably warm?  Because it really was.  Mid 60's and sunny.

Above is T-Rex in the Museum of Natural History.  Below is the Smithsonian. 

The whole gang.

Charlie is such a sweet boy.  He loved taking every opportunity possible to push Greta.  

Each and every memorial was happening.  We've seen Lincoln up close before so we didn't even bother fighting the crowds this time around.

The Washington Memorial.

Scott, thank you for the clever placement of the WA memorial between our heads.  I promise there isn't any phallic symbolism going on here.  So everyone with dirty thoughts just get your minds out of the gutter.

Scott and Dagmara, always having to be the photogenic couple.

So then we tried to outdo them, and this is what we came up with...

Saturday we had our second Thanksgiving feast, replete with every item from a traditional Turkey dinner.  Dagmara single-handedly created this masterpiece.  It was delicious. 

Thanksgiving green jello also made an appearance, and disappeared within 24 hours.  

After turkey dinner #2, we watched some old Friends episodes and decided to steal an idea for a memory recall game.  In the Thanksgiving episode from season 7, they were supposed to recall and write down each of the 50 states within 6 minutes. It was something we all just had to try.  

It's not as easy as it sounds.  However, I conquered the task, and finished in 4 minutes!  Can't say the same for the rest of them.... ;) Everyone eventually finished.

Ahhhhh, it was a great Thanksgiving holiday!  We're so thankful for our wonderful families near and far, and for the hospitality shown to us by the Baltimore Toblers and the Ellisons in Alexandria.  We're extremely thankful to live in a free country, and a country where food seems always to be available in abundance.  Not everyone worldwide can say the same.  

Black bears don't live in Mississippi!

Just found out today --by reading a friend's blog and scanning her photos of the Ole Miss v. Auburn football game from a month ago-- that Ole Miss changed its mascot from Colonel Reb to the Rebel Black Bear!?

Say what?

  

First off, where have I been for the last year? There was talk of replacing Col. Reb as mascot when I attended Ole Miss back in 2002-2004 (it was very controversial), but I didn't think it would actually happen. Though my response is delayed, I'm really sad about this. Secondly, BLACK BEARS DON'T LIVE IN MISSISSIPPI! This is absolutely absurd, and I completely agree with the image below:

Yup.   

Babysitting

Thank you Kyle and Kim for today's babysitting opportunity.

We're exhausted.  Especially Clark.

The Philly Skyline

is AMAZING.

Ivy League Football: Penn v. Cornell

My first Ivy League football experience was... interesting.

A friend and I attended our very first Penn football game last Saturday at the beautiful and legendary Franklin Field.  Thank you, Groupon, for the $5 tickets and free pretzel vouchers.

In no way does Ivy League football compare to SEC football, or even PAC-10 (err-I mean PAC-12), ACC, Big 12, etc. Nevertheless, I really enjoy watching collegiate football, and the game was still fun to attend!  Now I know I'm just making a huge generalization about Ivy League football, but it reminded me of high school football, only a little more impressive.  I know it sounds mean, but this was NOT like watching the big dogs play.  Or even the medium sized dogs.  This was like watching little dogs, like Pomeranians or Shih Tzus, run around and fumble the ball every 75 seconds or so.  To be fair, Pomeranians are just as much fun to watch as Golden Retrievers, am I right?  Now obviously these athletes have more talent than most high school players and are good enough to make this squad. However, they probably wouldn't make the cut if trying out for bigger programs in the area, such as Penn State or Temple.  The players are noticeably smaller, whiter and less adorned with ink on their skin. Just sayin'.  Someone's got to be honest about it.  Ivy League programs can't offer scholarships to athletes, so obviously they can't draw the best athletes to their programs (Patrick Witt of Yale is an exception, but even he can't make his team good).  I have a deep respect for athletes that compete for non-scholarship providing schools.  When I was recruited by Columbia University in high school, I wouldn't even consider visiting the school/program when I was told they couldn't offer me a scholarship.  Props to Ivy League athletes.  They obviously love what they do and don't expect anything in return.  Besides a win here and there.

Back to the aforementioned football game.  Penn lost to Cornell.  Cornell is one of those schools I just can't stand, all because of Andy Bernard from The Office.  "I went to Cornell.  Ever heard of it?" It's hilarious how arrogant he is about a school that most people have rarely heard about.  Anyway, I hate Cornell because of Andy Bernard.  

The crowds were so small at this game.  I felt so bad for the teams playing in this massive capacity stadium to probably a couple thousand fans total.  This photo was taken at half time, but you can tell that the stands are pretty empty regardless of it being half time or not.

 Aside from my above blasting of Penn football and Ivy League football in general, I am excited for next year's football season.  I do love me some college football, and though these guys don't fall into the category of the big dogs, even as small dogs they are fun to watch play.  

"Max, can you earmuff for me?"

Old School has some of the best one liners. Ever.

It's getting pretty chilly out and I'm starting to come down with something.  You know, when you can feel the glands in your neck start to swell and you just know the impending cold is upon you?  This year, I am REFUSING to get sick.  Our home will be an illness free home.  We just don't have the time. 

I have been taking precautions the last few days.  It's been rainy out so I didn't go running yesterday or this morning. (I've learned that running actually won't cure me and/or make me feel better when I'm sick.  Startling revelation.)  I've been sleeping in.  And, I have been drinking ample amounts of liquids, mainly in the form of tea.  Since I'm not out on my daily run this morning, I'm putting my time to good use.  On ebay.  Looking for earmuffs/ear warmers/anything to keep my head warm that isn't a hat.

I've found some gems:

 She has, like, three heads. This must be warm.   

Oh my awesome.  

I'm gonna go with my gut and say that this over-sized, furry, caterpillar-thing would keep my ears warm even in Siberia.  Probably.

 This seller decided it wasn't important enough to take a clear picture of his/her product.  The bow on the bunny is a nice touch, though.

I have so many options, I don't know how I'll ever make a decision! 

(But for reals, does anyone use the earmuffs that go behind the head, not over the head?  Do they stay in place?  I've also been looking at the uber trendy knit headbands that have the button adjustment in the back.  Are they itchy?  I have a huge issue with things that itch my forehead and ears.  Would appreciate any insight/advice. I'm a long time beanie wearer, looking to expand my horizons and try something new.)

Another twenty some odd birthday

My twenty some odd birthday was really quite relaxing.  I refused to study.  I was spoiled with gifts from my bff/lover/husband.  I attended church.  I ate awesome pulled pork sandwiches and homemade mac 'n cheese (made by my man).  And I got to enjoy my day with Clark and the Baltimore Toblers.  Don't get much better than that!

My birthday spoils, courtesy of Target.  The kitty cat mug is pretty remarkable.

 Up close: this is one good looking mug of peppermint tea!
I miss you Gretchen, and I will think of you every time I use this mug!

Later in the afternoon we drove over to campus so that Kyle and Kim could walk UPenn's paths and feel the Ivy League spirit that abounds on the sacred campus grounds.  (Honestly, I didn't mean for any of that to rhyme.  I'm just that good.)

Charlie and Greta just don't stay still long enough in bad lighting.  They had a blast running around the university grounds.

It was a super chill, low key birthday.  Exactly the kind of day I've needed since beginning this grad program at Penn.

Until my next twenty some odd birthday...